Two children were killed and 50 other people wounded when an assailant threw a bomb at a wedding party in the Sudanese capital, police said Wednesday.
In an apparently personal affair, the bomber struck in the southern district of Mayo, police spokesman General Hashim Abdelrahim said in a statement to AFP.
"Someone threw a bomb at a wedding party on Tuesday night, in which two children have been killed and 50 others wounded," Abdelrahim said.
"The police have arrested the culprit and all indications are that the issue is related to the wedding," he said, without giving the suspect's identity.
Many residents of Mayo, an impoverished neighbourhood, are from Darfur and the Nuba mountains, while some are South Sudanese.
Sudan has been swept by a month of protests and clashes with security forces that have left 26 people dead, according to officials.

Bomb at Sudan wedding party kills 2, wounds 50: Police

PTI Automatic

A popular Singapore actor died on Wednesday after an accident during military training in New Zealand, the defence ministry said, pledging to investigate his death.
Aloysius Pang, who starred in Chinese language TV shows and movies, was completing compulsory reservist training when he suffered serious injuries while repairing artillery.
After the accident on Saturday near Waiouru on New Zealand's North Island, the 28-year-old was transferred to hospital and underwent surgery.
"Despite surgical attempts to repair damaged organs and putting him on artificial life support... Pang succumbed to the injuries and passed away," Singapore's defence ministry said in a statement late Wednesday.
Male Singapore citizens are required to undergo two years of national service upon turning 18 and are also called up for further training in the following years.
His family said "it has been a difficult time for us," in a post on the actor's Instagram account before his death was announced.
"We all broke .

Singapore actor dies in N Zealand military training

Four young men were arrested New York state for allegedly planning a "potentially lethal" attack on a Muslim community regularly targeted by US extremist sites, police said Wednesday.
Police in Greece, New York recovered three explosive devices and 23 weapons -- mostly shotguns -- from the homes of the suspects, according to spokesman, Jared Rene.
The four, whose ages range from 16 to 20, were accused of planning a "potentially lethal attack" for against a community called "Islamberg" several hours drive from Greece, Rene said.
The community of some 200 people is managed by the organization Muslims of America, which thanked authorities for preventing a "possible massacre of our community."
Rene said police were tipped off by a high school student who overheard other students speaking of a "next school shooter." When authorities searched homes they found weapons legally obtained by parents, but uncovered the attack plot.
"The kids did the right thing. When they saw something, they said 

Four arrested in plot to target Muslims in NY state

Ben Stokes struck two important blows as England pegged back West Indies' progress with the home team at 132 for three when rain forced an early tea on the opening day of the first Test of the three-match series at Kensington Oval in Barbados on Wednesday.
Stokes removed obdurate opener Kraigg Brathwaite and the experienced Darren Bravo within a matter of minutes just before the showers swept across the ground to raise the visitors' spirits after they were frustrated by a 73-run second-wicket partnership between Brathwaite and Shai Hope.
Brathwaite's patient innings of 40 ended when he followed a delivery from the seam bowling all-rounder to give a straightforward catch to England captain Joe Root.
Bravo, playing his first Test in more than two years following a social media spat with Cricket West Indies president Dave Cameron, failed to make any impression as he was trapped lbw by a full-length delivery from Stokes for two.
Hope, who has again impressed in compiling an unbeaten 42 by 

Stokes double blow checks bright West Indies start

The Microsoft-run search engine Bing was unavailable in mainland China late Wednesday, raising concerns among some social media users that it could be the latest foreign website to be blocked by censors.
Attempting to open cn.bing.com results in an error message, though users can still access Bing's international site using a virtual private network (VPN), which allows people to circumvent China's "Great Firewall" of censorship.
It is not clear whether or not Bing has joined China's long list of prohibited websites or if its China service is experiencing technical difficulties.
Facebook, Twitter and a host of Western media websites are blocked in China.
While its rival Google shut down its search engine in China in 2010, Bing has continued to operate in the country along with Microsoft-owned Skype.
On Weibo, China's Twitter-like social media site, people complained about the lack of access, with some speculating that Bing too had been "walled off".
Others aired their dissatisfaction ..

Microsoft's Bing search engine goes offline in China

After more than a month, the partial US government shutdown is "damaging" the world's largest economy, the head of JP Morgan Chase said Wednesday.
The impasse between President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats over funding for a wall on the border with Mexico is hurting growth, as are other factors like trade, banking chief Jamie Dimon told CNBC.
The impact on consumer and business confidence is particularly notable.  "Now it's coming down a little bit, because of that, because of trade, all the noise around the world about populism," he said.
Dimon also insisted on the need to resolve the US-China trade war.  "It's the most important relationship geopolitically in the world for the next hundred years," he said.
While acknowledging the administration "has raised very serious trade issues and they are right," Dimon worried about the fits and starts in the talks between Beijing and Washington.
"Both sides want to resolve it. And you see every time it looks like we might resolve .

Government shutdown 'damaging' US economy: JP Morgan chief

A Chinese-Australian dissident and democracy activist has become the latest Western citizen to be detained in China, Australia's foreign ministry confirmed Wednesday.
Yang Hengjun -- a novelist and former Chinese diplomat -- went missing shortly after he travelled to the southern city of Guangzhou last week, friends said.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Yang had travelled to China with his wife and son on January 18, but never made a planned internal flight to Shanghai.
"Chinese authorities informed the Australian Embassy in Beijing that they have detained Mr Yang Hengjun," Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement late Wednesday.
"The Department is seeking to clarify the nature of this detention and to obtain consular access to him... as a matter of priority." The Australian government is believed to be in contact with Yang's friends and family, as well as Chinese authorities.
Authorities in Guangzhou did not immediately respond to a request for .

Australia confirms detention of dissident in China

Venezuela's National Assembly head Juan Guaido declared himself the country's "acting president" on Wednesday during a mass opposition rally against leader Nicolas Maduro.
Moments earlier, the loyalist-dominated Supreme Court ordered a criminal investigation of the opposition-controlled legislature.
"I swear to formally assume the national executive powers as acting president of Venezuela to end the usurpation, (install) a transitional government and hold free elections," said Guaido as thousands of supporters cheered.

Top lawmaker declares himself Venezuela's 'acting president'

A woman stabbed 23 times for rebuffing a romantic overture has praised Pakistan's top court for ordering the rearrest of her alleged attacker, three years after her ordeal sparked a national debate on violence against women.
Law student Khadija Siddiqui, then 23, survived the frenzied daylight attack outside her sister's school in the teeming eastern city of Lahore.
Siddiqui had named the perpetrator as Shah Hussain, a classmate whom she had rejected romantically, who was convicted handed down a seven-year prison term in mid-2017.
But Hussain, the son of a prominent Lahore lawyer, appealed the decision and was acquitted on all charges the following year in a provincial court, prompting uproar across the conservative and deeply patriarchal country.
The supreme court's reversal comes after a tenacious campaign for justice by Siddiqui, who has emerged as a women's rights crusader since Hussain's acquittal.
"Today is a victorious day, it was a landmark decision which shows that nobody is .

Pakistan court orders arrest in notorious stabbing case

A male nurse has been arrested in Arizona for the sexual assault of a woman who gave birth while in a long-term vegetative state, police in the US state said Wednesday.
The 29-year-old victim gave birth late last month to a baby boy, whose DNA was matched to that of the suspect, leading to the arrest, according to police.
The suspect -- identified as Nathan Sutherland, age 36 -- faces charges of one count of sexual assault and one count of vulnerable adult abuse, Phoenix police Sergeant Tommy Thomson told a news conference.
"The baby I am told is doing good," Thompson said.
The CEO of the nursing facility resigned following the scandal, according to a statement sent to media.
A lawyer for the woman's family has said the infant "has been born into a loving family and will be well cared for," according to The New York Times.

Nurse arrested in case of US woman who gave birth in vegetative state

At least four people have died following overnight clashes ahead of Wednesday's rival protests in Venezuela by supporters and opponents of President Nicolas Maduro, police and a non-governmental organization said.
A 16-year-old was among the dead, having suffered "a firearm injury during a demonstration" in the capital Caracas, the Social Conflict Observatory said.
Police said the other three deaths occurred during looting in Bolivar City in the southeastern Bolivar State that borders Brazil.
A statue of iconic socialist revolutionary leader Hugo Chavez, Maduro's predecessor, was torched by dozens of protesters in the town of San Felix, Bolivar State.
Photos and videos shared on social media showed the statue, which was vandalized last year, engulfed in flames.
Tensions have been running high in the country since Monday when a group of soldiers took over a command post in the north of the capital and rose up against Maduro, publishing a video calling on people to come out into the ...

Four dead in clashes ahead of Venezuela protests

West Indies were off to an encouraging start at 89 for one at lunch on the opening day of the first Test against England at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on Wednesday.
Debutant John Campbell impressed with a stroke-filled innings of 44 off 53 balls with eight fours, before becoming the only wicket to fall in the session after home captain Jason Holder won the toss and chose to bat first on a pitch which has so far offered very little encouragement for the faster bowlers.
Campbell's senior opening partner, Kraigg Brathwaite, will resume after the interval on 31 in partnership with Shai Hope (14 not out).
England dropped a selectorial bombshell before the start of play in omitting senior seamer Stuart Broad, a veteran of 134 Tests with 433 wickets to his name, in preference for a second specialist spinner in Adil Rashid, given the expectation of greater assistance for the slow bowlers than had been initially expected in the lead-in to the match.
Sam Curran shared the new ball with ...

West Indies batsmen make strong start against England

Global markets parted ways Wednesday as investors were more cautious about the chances of success in China-US trade talks, and looked for direction from the ECB.
The overall mood remained wary, with a rally that has characterised the start of the year stuttering due to slower Chinese economic activity, a softer global outlook, Brexit issues and the US government shutdown, which shows no sign of ending soon.
"The markets appear to be trading a bit cautious ahead of tomorrow's monetary policy decision from the European Central Bank (ECB) and as US/China trade worries are flaring up," the Charles Schwab brokerage said.
US investors sold shares Tuesday after the Financial Times and CNBC said Washington had rejected Beijing's offer of preparatory discussions ahead of the next round of high-level negotiations.
Wednesday saw a sliver of respite as Wall Street opened just in the black, the Dow Jones adding 1 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.6 percent.
"We are continuing to see ...

Uncertainty plagues markets ahead of US-China trade talks

He is a longshot candidate, but South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday he is jumping into the burgeoning 2020 Democratic field challenging Donald Trump, aiming to become the first openly gay presidential nominee.
Should he win, the 37-year-old wunderkind, a US Navy reservist who took leave from his mayoral duties to serve in Afghanistan, would also be America's youngest-ever commander in chief.
Buttigieg announced that he has formed a presidential exploratory committee, a key opening step to formally launching a bid.
He joins a growing list of charismatic Democrats seeking to carry the party's torch into 2020, including three female US senators -- Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand -- and Hispanic-American former Obama cabinet member Julian Castro.
In a nearly-two-minute video posted online, Buttigieg portrayed himself as a can-do reformer -- he has earned high praise for reviving his mid-sized Indiana city -- from America's millennial generation eyeing the 

Buttigieg enters 2020 race, would be first openly gay nominee

The Taliban "mastermind" behind an attack which left 65 dead has been killed in an airstrike, Afghanistan's intelligence agency said Wednesday -- a claim the insurgents deny.
Monday's violence was the latest high-casualty assault on Afghan forces, who experts say are continuing to suffer "unsustainable" losses since NATO withdrew combat forces from the country in 2014.
Militants detonated a Humvee filled with explosions before three gunmen opened fire at a National Directorate of Security (NDS) intelligence agency base in central Wardak province, but further details have been difficult to independently verify.
A local official told AFP at least 65 people had been killed. The NDS has given a lower toll, instead claiming 36 had been killed and 58 wounded.  Afghan authorities are known to downplay casualties.
The agency said an aerial bombardment in the provincial capital the following night killed eight Taliban insurgents, including the planner of the Monday attack.
"Commander Noman... .

Afghan spy agency says it killed Taliban base attack mastermind

Dutch officials are in contact with more than 250 companies about a possible post-Brexit move, the government said Wednesday, after Sony revealed it would shift its base to the Netherlands.
The Dutch government will announce a final figure in February but "every new arrival of a business, big or small, is a success," Michiel Bakhuizen, a spokesman for the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency, told AFP.
Japanese electronics giant Sony is following Panasonic in moving its European headquarters across the North Sea to the Netherlands ahead of Britain's scheduled departure from the EU in March.
While Prime Minister Mark Rutte said during a recent visit by Japanese premier Shinzo Abe that he "doesn't see Brexit as a business opportunity", the Netherlands has still pushed hard to win post-Brexit investment.
Via the investment agency, the Dutch government is "in contact with more than 250 interested in an eventual move to the Netherlands because of Brexit", Bakhuizen said.
"The number of ...

Dutch say 250 firms interested in Brexit move

South Sudan on Wednesday called on the international community to fund efforts to implement a peace deal, which is already four months behind schedule due to lack of money.
In an address to diplomats, deputy foreign minister Deng Dau Deng said the money was needed to move warring forces into cantonment areas, a move seen as vital to addressing security in the country.
"Our specific appeal is for our partners and for the diplomatic community in Juba to give support to plug the gaps... so that we can move," Deng said.
Goc Mokwach, deputy finance minister, told AFP that parliament last year approved estimated spending of USD 20 million to implement the peace deal, however an overall budget has not been announced.
But Deng said the government only had USD 1.6 million for peace efforts.
"If you don't have resources, you cannot move," he said. "It is availability of the resources that will actually enhance the process itself."
From the fight for independence until it was achieved in 2011, ..

S.Sudan urges foreign partners to fund peace deal

Chinese consumers should outspend their American counterparts in 2019, with retail sales in the Asian giant continuing to grow in the coming years, according to an industry forecast published Wednesday.
Retail sales in China are expected to hit USD 5.64 trillion, an increase of 7.5 per cent over 2018, while Americans are likely to spend USD 5.53 trillion, a 3.3 per cent increase, according to the market research firm eMarketer.
"In recent years, consumers in China have experienced rising incomes, catapulting millions into the new middle class," Monica Peart, forecasting director at eMarketer, said in a statement.
Growth in China's retail sector has been driven by online sales, which should expand by 30 per cent this year, reaching USD 1.99 trillion, according to the firm.
This would mean more than 35 per cent of all Chinese retail sales will occur online, by far the highest proportion for ecommerce in the world.
By comparison, online sales in the United States represented only 10.9 ...

China to pass US in retail sales this year: forecast

Harare on Wednesday acknowledged accusations that its security forces engaged in "systematic torture" during a crackdown on anti-government protests, saying there were lessons to be learnt from the operation.
In a blunt statement issued on Tuesday, the government-appointed Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission accused the security forces of "systematic torture" and lambasted the authorities for using soldiers to curb civilian disturbances.
"It was quite a strong report against the methods that were used by law enforcement agencies, it was a strong report against the demonstrators who took the law into their own hands," presidential spokesman George Charamba told reporters in Harare.
It was the first time the government had reacted to the damning report from the government-funded commission which was created nine years ago.
"In every situation of conflict, there are lessons to be drawn," he said, responding to a question about what the government had learnt from the crackdown.
But he also ..

After torture accusations, Zimbabwe says lessons to be learnt

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, elected on promises to stamp out graft, said in an interview Wednesday that a politician son of his under scrutiny for suspicious financial transactions will "pay the price" if wrongdoing is found.
Bolsonaro made the remark about his son Flavio Bolsonaro, a senator-elect in Brazil's new Congress, to the financial news agency Bloomberg as he attended the annual Davos gathering of the globe's political and corporate chiefs.
"If by chance he erred and it were proven, I regret it as a father, but he'll have to pay the price for those actions we can't accept," Bolsonaro said.
It was his clearest statement yet that he was leaving Flavio to face the mounting suspicions alone.
The burgeoning scandal at home has badly embarrassed the president, who has taken a strong stand against graft.
Brazil's COAF agency that fights financial crimes reportedly discovered 48 deposits made to Flavio's bank account over a few days in June-July 2017, some of them just ...

Brazil leader says son will 'pay the price' if wrongdoing proved

Chinese authorities have detained a dozen labour activists over recent days in the latest clampdown on efforts to organise workplaces in China, rights groups said.
Beijing has taken an uncompromising line against efforts to establish independent labour unions in southern Guangdong province, the epicentre of China's high-tech manufacturing sector.
The campaign is backed by campus Marxist groups at some of China's most prestigious universities -- several leaders of which have been arrested or disappeared in recent months.
Another seven students and recent graduates from two elite Beijing universities were arrested on Monday, according to labour rights organisation Jasic Workers Solidarity.
The students were rounded up hours after publishing a statement accusing police of recording forced video confessions of previously detained student activists who had supported the Guangdong union campaign, the rights group said.
They had accused police of organising recent screenings of the videos, ..

AFP

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